STEM for Kids arrives in Houston with hands-on instruction

Misha Chakraborty brought the Houston branches of STEM for Kids to the community after seeing the need for applicable STEM classes for children.

Misha Chakraborty brought the Houston branches of STEM for Kids to the community after seeing the need for applicable STEM classes for children.

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Misha Chakraborty brought the Houston branches of STEM for Kids to the community after seeing the need for applicable STEM classes for children.

Misha Chakraborty brought the Houston branches of STEM for Kids to the community after seeing the need for applicable STEM classes for children.

STEM for Kids arrives in Houston with hands-on instruction

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After moving to the Cy-Fair area, Misha Chakraborty could not find a STEM educational program in Cy-Fair that she felt was appropriate for her daughters, Arja Chakraborty and Aadya Chakraborty.

After searching, she brought a program to Houston and decided to head the operation herself while making education more accessible.

STEM for Kids launched in the Cy-Fair community in September. The educational program focuses on teaching science, technology, engineering and math to children from an early age with a focus on applicable projects. Chakraborty said she decided to bring the franchise — started by Moni Singh — to the Cy-Fair area after observing how the program introduces STEM concepts to children in a more intuitive way.

“In this area all I could find was Lego-based robotics and computer coding,” she said. “If you know computer coding it can be really monotonous and if you think from a kid’s perspective. I know if Arja goes there and she knows that that’s supposed to be STEM, she will want to stay away from STEM.”

Chakraborty herself earned a master’s degree from the University of Houston and a PhD from Texas A&M, both in human resource development, and she assisted in writing a book on technology integration in higher education. Chakraborty said she determined STEM education to be important for children to learn at an early age.

Chakraborty said she wants the programs she’s teaching, along with five other instructors, to show children there is more to STEM than mathematics. As an example, Chakraborty said students will build machines, like a candy grabber, while learning about the concept of a lever and applying the knowledge. Students will also practice fine arts to apply to projects like designing, she said.

“[Math] is a portion of STEM, but STEM is not just about computational skills,” Chakraborty said. “It’s about developing the overall cognitive skills. That’s what we’re trying to do, not just calculation.”

STEM for Kids has a broad range of programs for students of all ages, including in-school and after school programs teaching STEM entrepreneurship, invention, biomedical engineering and more. Students are given hands-on projects rather than worksheets or tests, Chakraborty said.

“We try to provide very personalized, individualized, customized learning to each and every kid.,” she said. “For example, we may have one hour of game-making. So, they try to create their own virtual world then they make their own game. Their parents or their grandparents can access it at home and they can play what they made.”

Accessibility to the program was a major priority for Chakraborty. The program is not only accessible on weekends and after school, but also affordable, she said. Classes range from $30 per class to $120 for a month of classes, according to the STEM for Kids website.

“I want to make STEM available, accessible and affordable to the masses,” Chakraborty said. “We are working in this area to close the gap in early childhood. We are trying to introduce proper STEM to the kids, not just for the sake of saying it but actually doing something to their mind, developing their cognitive skills.”

Along with the Cy-Fair classes, Chakraborty also started STEM for Kids courses in Katy, Richmond and Sugar Land. She said her end goal is to create an environment where children can gain knowledge to better their world.

“My goal is to build something where they can be safe, they can have the basic necessities and they’ll get education,” Chakraborty said. “I can see the appreciation when they get to know about the classes, the courses and they way were are offering them … If you give them education, knowledge, skills and good behavior, you make them employable. That’s my goal.”